Craig Whyte admits he lied over Ticketus deal for Rangers takeover

The gift that keeps on giving – at least to headline writers and Celtic
supporters, in the form of Rangers’ endlessly twisting saga – was in
munificent form yesterday as Craig Whyte finally admitted that he had indeed
funded his takeover through the sale of rights to future season ticket sales.

Ticket to hide: Craig Whyte denied that he was trying to 'make a fast buck' out of RangersPhoto: EPA

In the latest revelation to be dragged into the public domain after a welter of increasingly unbelievable denials, Whyte yesterday conceded – a few minutes ahead of an official confirmation by the club’s administrators – that he bought control of Rangers last May using money raised by selling three years’ worth of season ticket sales rights to the Ticketus agency.

The cash was used to pay off the £18 million credit line extended to Rangers by the Lloyds Banking Group when Sir David Murray was in charge.

Whyte added that, in November 2010, when his takeover bid got under way, he had satisfied Murray and Lloyds with proof of funds amounting to £33 million. He added that he was “on the line for £27.5 million in guarantees and cash”.

That, as it happens, is more or less the sum displayed to the previous Rangers’ directors on April 7, 2011. At the time, Murray said: “The share purchase agreement imposed a number of obligations on Wavetower (the company used by Whyte as the vehicle for the transaction).

“These included the retention of £9.5 million on behalf of the club for investment in the squad, expenditure on the infrastructure of the stadium and settlement of an agreed tax liability, together with the availability of working capital to fund the club’s operations.”

That being so, the question begged now is how Rangers got into an insolvency situation. In a long and sometimes self-exculpatory statement, Whyte said: ‘The Ticketus deal was by far the best way to protect the club given the circumstances in that they have no security over any assets.

“The only person at risk from the deal is me personally because I gave Ticketus personal and corporate guarantees underwriting their investment; the club and the fans are fully protected.

“I face huge financial losses personally if the restructuring fails or is not allowed to proceed … everything I have done has been with the best interest of this football club at heart.

“Any suggestion that I am trying to make a fast buck or have indulged in illegal manoeuvring is clearly ludicrous.”

Whyte also declared: “My corporate advisers came to me with the proposition that it was entirely possible, as well as highly beneficial, to negotiate a deal with Ticketus that would allow us to complete the takeover and maximise working capital for the club’s day-to-day business.”

One of Whyte’s most outspoken critics, Alastair Johnston – who was chairman of Rangers at the time of the takeover – told The Daily Telegraph: “Craig Whyte talks about his advisers and, ironically, that might have a degree of credibility – because there is no way he could have perpetrated this without help.

“We could be looking at contributory negligence. Other people were aware what was going on.

“This was a day we knew was going to come. How he sat through the last few weeks and denied it with a brass neck is astonishing.”

In September Whyte flatly denied that he had used the advance sale of season tickets to raise cash and in his latest statement he said: “In retrospect I should have been completely open about it, but I’m not sure Ticketus would have been very happy about their confidentiality being breached.”

If Whyte was solicitous about Ticketus, he found a useful target in HMRC, whom he blamed for refusing to accept proposals to settle two tax cases – one for £2.8 million plus penalties and the other over a disputed sum of £24 million, which might be doubled through penalties and interest if an impending tribunal judgment goes against Rangers.

HMRC pressed for administration to recover £9 million of unpaid taxes, of which Whyte said: “The truth is that around £4.4 million … is, in fact, the ‘wee tax case’, including penalties, and which is in dispute.

“We offered to pay £2.5 million of the PAYE and VAT up front with the remainder at £500,000 a month, but HMRC flatly rejected that. On the big tax case … we wanted HMRC to confirm that they would accept repayments of £2.5 million a year if we lost. But again they said, ‘No’.”

Meanwhile, Michael Gove added to the blizzard of jokes about Rangers when he told a lobby lunch that the club had attracted a buyer – a German billionaire living in Italy. “Unfortunately,” added the Education Secretary, “it is the Pope”.